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The president and CEO of TransCanada had some harsh words Monday after another process delay was announced by the U.S. Department of State for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

“We are extremely disappointed and frustrated with yet another delay,” Russ Girling said in a statement released Monday.

“American men and women will miss out on another construction season where they could have worked to build Keystone XL and provided for their families.

“We feel for them.”

The Department of State (DOS) announced last week it will seek input from eight federal agencies to determine whether the project meets National Interest Determination.

After first asking for the views by May, that timeline is now being extended, according to the DOS, due to potential impacts of a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling which could affect the pipeline route.

“Another delay is inexplicable,” said Girling.

“The first leg of our Keystone pipeline began shipping oil to refineries outside of St. Louis in 2010.

“It is about the same length of pipe as Keystone XL, carries the same oil and also crosses the 49th parallel.

“It took just 21 months to study and approve. After more than 2,000 days, five exhaustive environmental reviews and over 17,000 pages of scientific data, Keystone XL continues to languish.”

Girling said the Keystone pipeline has safely delivered more than 600 million barrels of crude oil to U.S. refineries.

“We are also disappointed the United States will continue to rely on regimes that are fundamentally opposed to American values for the 8 to 9 million barrels of oil that is imported every day,” he said.

“A stable, secure supply of oil from Canada and from the U.S. makes better sense and I am sure a majority of Americans agree.”

A notice of appeal was filed in February by the Nebraska attorney general, which Girling said should mean that the route evaluated by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and approved by the governor remains in effect.

“Our view remains that the current 90-day National Interest Determination process that is now underway should not be impacted by the Nebraska lower court ruling since the approved re-route remains valid during appeal,” he said.

Failure to get Keystone XL going could result in environmental damage, said Girling.

“North American oil production is up dramatically and will continue to rise,” he said.

“That means without Keystone more oil will be shipped by rail and by barge.

“As the State Department concluded in its recent Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement not approving Keystone XL will lead to higher GHG’s (greenhouse gas emissions) through other oil transportation options and greater public risk.

“Not building Keystone XL is a lose, lose, lose scenario any way you look at it.”